Engineering News reports that telecommunications group Telkom on Wednesday kicked off a consultation process with organised labour that could see up to 3,000 workers retrenched.
The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) will facilitate the Section 189 process, which was announced last week as the JSE-listed group battles to compete in a “duopolistic mobile market where the two largest players have virtual control over voice and data prices.” Telkom has seen a sharp decline in fixed-voice and interconnection revenues across the group as customers shift towards new technologies, such as fibre to the home. The company, which aims to trim down in an effort to ensure its sustainability, is having to reposition itself amid fundamental changes within the telecommunications industry and a difficult macroeconomic environment where gross domestic product per capita is declining because economic growth is lagging population growth. Telkom said, however, in a statement on Wednesday that it was optimistic that the Data Services Market Inquiry, started in August 2017, would yield firm regulatory action to stimulate competition in SA’s mobile market.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard at Engineering News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page